Repair attachment for piano hammer heads



June 5, 1928.

. v R. R. BODE REPAIR ATTACHMENT FOR PIANO HAMMER HEADS Filed June 22, 1926- 4 I Warrior 3066!"? Bode Patented June 5, 1928.

. UNITEDSTATES" PATENT oFFice. v

ROBERT BUDLAND BODE OF HONOLULU, TERRITORY OF HAWAII.

R PAIR ATTACHMENT Iron Plano HAMMER Heaps.

Application filed June 22,

In. my former Letters-Patent, No. 888,141,

patentedMay 19, 1908, and filo/93 1,6541, patented September 21, 1909, I have set forth means adapted to restore the qualit of the hammer by applying a strip of so t material to that surface of thefelt head which strikes the piano wire, showinga stirrup of thin Wire having sharp p'ointed fingers to enter the felt and secured to the strip by a loop like sheet metal. body having etents that were inserted through the strip and bent over thereonto. a The present invention is an improyement upon the-devices shown in. bothof Sflld pflt",

ents, and'has for its object, the avoidance of difiicultieslong experienced without any.

remedy known tomeor othersso far as I am aware and which have prevented mefrom successfully marketing the patented in-.-

ventions. i w I I have found that serious difficult-y arose with respect to the attachment shown in my Patent No; 934,654, in addition to the lia= bilities of slipping and loosening, mentioned in said patent, and. thatsuch difficulty arose g from several sources, viz i I I have found in actual practice that the connection between the strip and the felt of the hammer head was cumbersome and likely to pull-thematerial so asto allow the loops to,move apart from each other, thus looscn= ing the strip; andalso that. the points ofthe, fingers were likely to come loose from the felt of the hammer. head so that the strips insomeinstanceswould become detached, thus requiring, renewed attention. Furthermore it was dflicult to tightly a ss emble the stirrups, loops and stripquickly and fasten them tightly together. 5'. An object of the present invention is to overcome those difficulti'es and objections, Y and to chea-pen and strengthen the attachment, facilitate assembly, and to guard against any tendency to loosen or become detached.-

Another obj ct is t produce the attache 1926.: semi no. 117,733.

mentin a cheap and convenient way without special tools, and this I accomplish in the manner hereinafterset forth.

Ot-herobjects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subj'oined detailed description and the appended claims. v The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention.

Figure 1 is a face view of the improved attachment on an enlargedscale;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionon line m s, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is abroken perspective view on a somewhat smaller scale, of a piano hammer with my attachment applied thereto. I Y

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmental section on said line 02 112, Fig. 1. l

Fig. 5 is a view of a stamping ready to be bent onto 'oneend of the'strip, I v

Fig. 6 is a fragmental view illustrating the stripand eyelet mechanism of a form for riveting the clasp onto the strip. I

1 indicates the renewing strip which is preferably of felt of elongate rectangular form. 2, 3, 4 indicate members or parts of spring wire stirrups, the member 2 being straight, theside members 3 being at right angles thereto and the inwardly extending return hooks at being bent slightly toward the member 2. 5 indicates a folded sheet metal clasp embracing the member '2 and the end of there'ctang'ular strip 1 fixed to said rectangular strip" by a riveted eyelet 6. Each end of the strip" 1is "fitted withthe clasp, stirrup andeyelet. I 3

The sheet metal of which the clasp is formed may be thin, sheet brass either spring brass or soft brass and in practical manufacture the blanks such as shown in Fig. 5 will be bent into form for folding about the ends of the renewal strip 1 and then will be placed on the intermediate member of the stirrup and. put. in position, with such member against the end Of t'he strip and then the folds of the clasp. will be punched and eyeleted at a single operation an ordinary eyeleting machine, which may be of the common hand type, thus completing the attachment in well finished form. c

In practice to apply the attachment to the felt portion of the hammer head, 7 the strip 1. will be broughtinto the appropriate 3 come into normal position'agains't the side: of the felt head with the'tension of the felt acting to further seat the curved hooks and toprevent the escape of the same under any condition except the reversal of the operation by which theyjwere seated.

In thismanner the, strip is held perfectly true and taut-and the hookscannot come v loose by use of the piano.

The 'clasps are shown provided with,

rounded tips and the eyelet is centrally lee cated with respect to said tips and the head 8 and burr oer the eyelet practically rivet the two trunksof the clasp tightly onto the .SbI'Ip.-.. V

It is understood thatthe strip and 'accompanying parts-maybe ofany slze, thickness and Weight within the judgment of the manufacturer anda feature of theinvention is the construction which allows the device to bea-pplied in averyQlight form and with great economy oftime andmaterial. v The felt strlpmay be about g inch thick more orless and the claspsv may be sheet brass of 26 gagepm ore or less, and the eye- I letsmay have a; boreof about 3 of an inch diameter, more or 'less. I v y In F 6, 1( indicates the anvil of a well known r veting machine, 11 'the'rivet holder in its elevated rivet holding position,"12fis the hollow presser foot adapted when down to compress the clasp andstrip toward the head13 of the hollowtriveti; 14 is ithe'rivet. sett ng pdi'elthat operates. in said machine in con u'nct1on "with the presser foot 12. to

crush the hollow rivet down into thepositlon lndicated in dotted lines at 15.

In practice the rivet maybe applied with either form of well known riveting devices,

the hole, in the clasp and in the strip being cut simultaneously with the insertion of the r vet through the brass and the strip.

The strlpsmay be made in quantity product'ion and-may be sold 'to the piano tuner in sets and by him applied, or they maybe applied by any skillful,workman. I

. By providing a clasp blank 5 with round ed ends and securing it in place by the chollow r1vet,'lightness, strength and compact-- ness are secured ina manner I have'hereto fore been unable to attain.

The'blank 5 is ofoblong, preferably ellip tic form and the rivet'fis applied to pierce dicated in Fig. 3andbydotted lines at'xl'f theends of the clasp practically central to the arcs 16 at the ends of the blank asin in Fig. 1 InFig. 6 it is understood that vthe punchngs of the brass the, strip have been obviated.

,of relatively light weight material in the clasp body and the hollow rivet provides a relativelylarge areal "contact,or grip, with the felt"-strips,'and thus the tendency of stretching in the felt, at such points of connection, isminimized, and loosening of the strip overthe hammer head is largely The point-ed fingers, or hammerhead engaging points, which arecurved in their lengths, or formed as hooks'bent toward 'the' intermediate'member of the stirrup, by:

reason of their re-entering: angle withrespect to the hammer head overcomes the1r90 tendency to move laterally, or back out,-'

each having an intermediate member and" 100,

fingers the ends of which'form sharp hooks bent. inwardly and curved toward such in'- termediate member; said intermediate members being against the ends of the 'stri-p;* clasps of thin sheet metal bent uponthe intermediate members and over the ends of the strip and holding the "intermediate mem bersin position, and hollow rivet-s extend ing through the clasps' and the strip at the ends of said strip respectively and rigidly and permanently securing said clasps'onto said strip. J 2. The combination with a repairstrip,

of "stirrups. having intermediate members fastened to thoends of the repair strip and having'fingers provided with hooks that are bent inwardly and toward the intermediate membersof the stirrupsp The means for fastening astirrup to a. repair strip for hammer heads which (3011-. sists in-aclasp of thin sheet metal embrac ingvthe end ofthe strip, and a member of w the stirrup and a hollow rivet secured through the strip and the ends of the clasp.

,4. A repair attachmentfor piano hammer heads, comprising a strip of felt, a: clasp of oblong shape, having rounded tips l and formed of thin, light weight'sheet material, I doubled to embrace the end of the strip'of felt, a hollow rivet extended through the 1 straight member, at the end of each side member.

I11 testimony whereof, I have hereunto 10 set my hand at Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, this 7th day of June, 1926.

ROBERT RUDLAND BODE. 

